Solo with Orchestra

Although the principal focus of my musical activity is in the area of chamber music, I have included in my repertoire a few works of the concertante double bass solo literature that I consider valuable, or at least original. These include the two classical concerti by Johann Baptist Vanhal and Johann Matthias Sperger (Concerto No. 15). As a pretty pseudo-classical piece, I like to play the concerto by Edouard Nanny, better known as the "Dragonetti Concerto", the name under which it was for a long time published. Bottesini’s "Concerto in B Minor" is, of course, a standard, as is his delightful "Grand Duo Concertant" for violin, double bass and orchestra. The same applies to the Concerto by Sergej Koussevitzky. This is, admittedly, rather anachronistic, but nevertheless goes right to the heart. But my personal favourite is the "Divertimento concertante" by Nino Rota, written completely in the style of his extremely popular film music creations.

Some of these compositions can be performed on the bassetto, some of them better even than on the double bass. The only original concerto so far has been written by Bodo Reinke: the composition "Aventures", for bassetto and orchestra. I hope that many more composers will soon follow his example!